


An Off Day

by duskblue



Series: Irondad Bingo 2019 [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Bingo, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Iron Dad, Irondad, Irondad Bingo 2019, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony's POV, Trope: Argument, everyone makes up!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 02:17:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21402526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duskblue/pseuds/duskblue
Summary: After Peter’s class spends some time at the compound, Tony has a new problem. Peter is definitely mad at him, and Tony has no idea why. All he knows is that he’s going to need some help from the smartest people in his life. That of course means Pepper and May. (And maybe a minuscule bit of help from Ned)This is for the Bingo prompt: Argument
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Irondad Bingo 2019 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1326146
Comments: 27
Kudos: 636
Collections: Iron Dad Bingo





	An Off Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! People wanted the next part of the last bingo fic I posted (Bring it Home) so I wrote this. It’s mostly the fallout after Tony’s comment at the end of the last fic. I might write another one with Peter dealing with it back at school if people want that too. (I’m thinking that’s probably what people wanted lol)
> 
> So if you haven't read the other fics, click above on the series to get to the other fics. They're called: Take it Back, and Bring it Home. I'm pretty sure this can be read on its own though :)

“Okay, goodnight!” Tony calls over the sound of a door slamming. He’s not really sure when it happened, but Peter went from a pleasant sixteen year old to teen terror in the matter of an afternoon. And Tony isn’t even sure why. Sure, his friends from school had been over on the field trip, and yeah, Peter had been a little quiet and red faced, but was that any reason to suddenly shut his mentor out completely? Tony doesn’t think so, at least.

He’s trying to resist the urge to march down the hallway and knock on Peter’s door when Pepper walks into the kitchen, her eyes glued to her phone. When she finally looks up at him, she pauses in her steps, studying him.

“Um, is everything okay?” she asks. “Where’s Peter?”

“Shut himself in his room fifteen minutes ago,” he says, gesturing in the direction of Peter’s room like he’s done with it. “I can’t figure that kid out. He wanted to spend the weekend here, and now he won’t even talk to me?”

Pepper gives him a soft smile and then sets her phone on the counter before slowly approaching him. “He’s a teenager, honey,” she says, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing a kiss on his lips. “Teenagers lock themselves in their rooms every other day. Don’t you remember being his age?”

“Yeah, but when I was his age, I was in college, living almost on my own in a dorm room. And Peter is not a regular teenager. He’s kind and sweet and lovable. All things that I was not.” He looks at Pepper, sticking his lip out at her in a pout and hoping she has some sort of answer for him. 

She pulls him closer. “Aw, I bet Rhodey found you lovable.”

He huffs a laugh over her shoulder, wrapping his hands farther around her waist. “Trust me, I wasn’t.”

“Well, I love you now. And so does Peter. He had a hard day with his friends here. I was watching him, and he was really stressed out. I’m sure it’s not because of you.”

“But what if it is?” he mutters. “It seemed like it was because of me.”

Pepper pulls away and puts her hand on the side of his face, looking into his eyes. Part of him wants to kiss her senseless, but he’s so concerned for Peter, he would probably do better at crying instead.

“Why don’t you give him an hour and then go and check on him?” she suggests. “And in the meantime, try to remember that everyone, even Peter, is allowed an off day. How many days have you been awful? And I still love you, don’t I?”

Tony isn’t sure if he should be thankful that she pointed that out or offended. “And some days you have an off day, too, Miss Potts.”

She kisses him on the tip of his nose before pulling back and grabbing not only her phone from the counter, but also a banana from the fruit bowl. “No, I don’t.”

Once she disappears around the counter, he sighs and leans on the counter. She’s right. She’s never had an off day. Not really, anyway. Tony’s had too many off days to count, so he guesses it makes sense that Peter should be allowed one every now and then. 

But what if Peter really is mad at him?

Ten years ago, Tony wouldn’t have cared if some kid were mad at him. But this is Peter, and he definitely cares. He cares so much, he’s not sure he can wait a full hour like Pepper suggested. Then again, he’s not too sure if his fragile ego can take it if Peter really is mad at him. So he does the next best thing.

He sends Ned a text.

**Tony: Hey Ted. This is Tony Stark. I need to have a conversation with you about something, but it’s about Peter and I don’t want him to know that I asked you.**

**Ted: OMG MR STARK!! You don’t have to say it’s you because I have your number in my phone for emergencies only! Remember? You gave it to me like four months and two days ago?**

**Tony: Never mind about how you know the exact day of when I gave you my number, but let’s consider this an emergency. How about promising to me we keep this conversation between us.**

**Ted: I swear! I mean, I don’t like to keep things from Peter, but you ARE Tony Stark, after all. And you do have Peter’s best interests in mind, right?**

**Tony: Of course I do. It’s just that he locked himself in his room, and I kind of got the impression he was mad about something. Do you know anything about it?**

**Ted: Actually no. I haven’t talked to him since we left the compound earlier. He did seem a little off, but I thought he was just stressed out. Should I ask him?**

**Tony: No, don’t do that! I’ll go talk to him. I just wanted to check to see if there was anything going on I didn’t know about. Thanks Ted.**

**Ted: No problem Mr Stark!! Let me know if you need anything else!!**

**Tony: Will do. **

Ned sends back some sort of meme that Tony hasn’t seen before and can’t even begin to understand, so he ignores it. Teenagers are so confusing. He wishes they came with some kind of instruction manual.

It’s been only fifteen minutes since Pepper said to give Peter an hour, but fifteen minutes is a long time to Tony when he could possibly be talking to Peter and fixing whatever issue there is. He has to at least try. And waiting really, really sucks.

So he slips his phone in his back pocket and then makes his way towards Peter’s room, where the door is still tightly closed. He spends a good few minutes standing in front of the door trying to work himself up to knocking.

“I know you’re out there,” Peter says from the other side. 

“Can I come in?” Tony asks after he collects himself. 

There’s a pause. “I guess.”

Tony tries not to let Peter’s tone bother him when he pushes open the door and does his best to smile. “Can we talk for a few minutes?”

Peter is lying on his stomach, facing the end of the bed. He has a pencil in his hand and is scribbling furiously in some notebook. When Tony leans over to see what he’s writing, he hides it under the arm of his hoodie.

“Is that your diary or something?” Tony teases, hoping to get the kid smiling at the very least. It doesn’t actually look at all like a diary. Unless diaries are filled with chemistry equations or different versions of Peter’s web fluid. 

Peter just looks up at him like that was the worst choice of words ever before he slams the cover of his notebook shut, stashes it under a pillow, and then sits up, folding his arms over his chest. “What do you want, Mr Stark?”

Tony isn’t sure how to reply. He wants to know why Peter is so angry, and he wants to know if it’s anything that he did in particular. But he doesn’t want to just come right out and ask it. After all, if Pepper is angry and he asks her if she’s mad and she wants him to think she isn’t, things can get a hell of a lot worse. Then again, Peter is a teenager, so maybe he should try the more direct approach. He’s still deciding what to say when Peter sighs.

“I just want to be alone right now. So unless you want to say something, can you please leave?”

Tony bites his tongue. Pepper was right. He should have given Peter more time. The kid is trying to be polite to him when it’s clear that something is wrong. Tony just wishes there was something he could do about it. Peter’s Friday nights spent at the compound are supposed to be movie nights. “Well, if you change your mind, I’ll be in the living room watching a movie that would be way more entertaining if it had your commentary. And don’t forget about tomorrow. I saved the wiring in my suit for you to help work on.”

Peter blinks up at him. “Thanks.”

“Night, kid,” Tony says, making his way towards the door. “Love you.”

It doesn’t hit him until the door has closed that he’s never told Peter that before. The next thing he knows, he’s kind of freaking out in front of the television, a movie playing that he doesn’t even care about. 

He scrambles for his phone.

**Tony: I just told Peter that I love him.**

**May: Aw!! That’s so sweet, Tony. What did he say?**

Tony stares at his phone for a full minute, wondering how he should break it to her that he’s completely emotionally constipated and doesn’t know how to handle this. Especially because Peter hadn’t said a word in return.

**Tony: I think he’s upset about something, but he won’t talk to me about it. So I guess he didn’t say anything.**

**May: Don’t take it personal. I know you, and I know you will anyway, but Peter is a teenager. Sometimes he’s a little moody. **

**Tony: That’s what Pepper said too. This is just really hard.**

**May: It’s definitely hard. Being a parent is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But you have to trust in yourself and know that you’re doing the best job you can. And besides, I KNOW that he loves you. So you really have nothing to worry about. He’ll wake up tomorrow starving, and if you want my advice, make him chocolate chip pancakes. Any transgressions can be forgiven with chocolate chip pancakes. Trust me.**

**Tony: I’m definitely open for advice. Chocolate chip pancakes it is. **

**May: Try not to be so hard on yourself. Sometimes teenagers get like that. Even Peter. He just needs some time. Let me know how it goes, okay? **

He’s about to text back that he will when he just happens to see a little movement out of the corner of his eye, so he turns towards the hallway to see Peter standing there in his pajamas, looking out at him nervously.

Tony quickly stashes his phone back in his pocket. “You want to watch this with me?” he asks, trying to sound normal. Honestly, he doesn’t even remember the name of the movie he put on.

Peter sniffs and pads across the hardwood floor to the couch, sitting down on the other end. “Can you pause the movie a second? It’s kind of loud.”

“You heard him, FRI,” Tony says, and the movie immediately pauses.

They sit there in silence for what feels like a long time, Tony looking at Peter, and Peter staring down at his hands. 

“I need to ask you something,” Peter finally mutters. 

“Sure,” Tony says. “Anything.”

Peter looks up at him finally. “It’s just that--I mean, next time--if there is a next time--when MJ is here… can you maybe not make it completely obvious that I have a crush on her? I was ready to die. She probably completely knows now. And I probably can’t ever look at her in the eyes ever again.”

Tony is speechless. All he can do is stare at Peter, blinking. _That_ is what this is about? All he did was ask which of Peter’s classmates was MJ. Then again, in that sense, he and Peter are really not too much alike. Peter can be shy and awkward sometimes, and Tony was definitely slick and polished around girls when he had been Peter’s age. “I’m really sorry about that,” he finally says. “I guess I didn’t even realize that could have been an issue. I’m going to make a special effort to be careful what I say in front of her or any of your friends in the future. Will you forgive me for opening my big mouth?”

Peter gives him a half smile. “I guess. You do feed me, after all.”

“And you’re an expensive kid to feed,” Tony quickly retorts. “Grab that blanket and get over here. We’ll start the movie over. Or better yet, you pick one. This last one was a snoozefest.”

Peter snatches up the blanket from the arm of the couch and scoots closer to Tony, throwing the fuzzy blanket over the both of them. “By the way,” he says after he grabs the remote from the coffee table so he can browse through their movie choices. “I love you, too.”

Tony grins and throws his arm around Peter’s neck, pulling him close long enough to place a kiss to the side of his curly head. “You’re officially my favorite. Pick any movie you want.”

Peter raises an eyebrow. “_Any_ movie?”


End file.
